Night
by hydrogen2oxygen98
Summary: Apologies; story is on hold until further notice due to (annoying) family problems. I promise when it is back up, there will be a new chapter every week.
1. This World of Survival

Please check out my profile, **hydrogen2oxygen98**, for updates and story info; rather than seeing it at the top of each chapter like some authors.

**Chapter 1 - This World of Survival**

Minecraft.

How I got here isn't important.

Who I was doesn't matter.

Who I am and who I will be depends on one word: Survival.

Survival of the Fittest.

Survival of the Strongest.

Survival of the Smartest.

Running is your life; the faster you can run, the better your chances. Bravery gets you no where in this world; keep running and never looking back is what keeps you alive. This is Survival of the Fittest.

The weak are the first to go; they cower in fear and are too scared to make a getaway. Hiding leads to your inevitable death; "They" will always find you. This is Survival of the Strongest.

Know every day could be your last; know the terrors of the night; know how to be resourceful under pressure. This is Survival of the Smartest.

Because this is a world where the creatures of nightmares are alive. This is not Minecraft! This is practically Earth with Creepers.

NO easy blocks that break in a few seconds.

NO easy inventory.

NO easy diamond sword.

The only thing you can do each night is hide and pray. Then RUN.


	2. The Girl

Please check out my profile, **hydrogen2oxygen98**, for updates and story info; rather than seeing it at the top of each chapter like some authors.

**PART I**

**Chapter 2 - The Girl**

_Steve woke up just before sunset like he always did. He grabbed his makeshift wooden sword for protection. The process of making it took two days; he had to find dry wood on the ground, he had to cut it to size, and he had to shape the blade all with a stone. Crafting one like it in the Minecraft computer game took just a few seconds.

_He was hungry and searched his pockets for something to eat. He was only three weeks into this ordeal and the only things he wore were baggy shorts and sneakers. Finding a scrap of a raw meat, he ate it and continued on his way.

_The Sun left and the moon came out. Night was here. Danger was here. Nothing explained the number of monsters that spontaneously appeared as soon as the light level dropped.

_Steve put his sword in his pants and climbed the tallest tree in the forest. This lookout helped him most nights until the spiders came. Standing on top of it he scanned his surroundings for monsters; if a large group of mobs was getting closer, climbing down and running would be the safest option.

_Nothing was immediately around him; so Steve started looking off in the distance. Scanning the horizon he saw a black figure and could barely making it out. Squinting, he looked harder. Then he heard static.

_"Oh... Shit! Enderman!" Steve breathed "But there's no way anything can teleport, except in video games." But at that moment it disappeared. Goosebumps shot up Steve's neck. His brain shouted one thing: RUN

_Steve jumped out of the tree and onto a zombie, cushioning the long drop. And ran for his life. He looked back, the enderman was about 100 yards away and almost recognizable.

_80 yards: the static became louder

_60 yards: the purple eyes were visible

_40 yards: the gaping jaw was visible

_It was now only 20 yards away and Steve realized that no amount of running would ever get him away from an enemy that teleports.

_The enderman teleported right in front of him, bringing him to an immediate stop. "So this is how it ends" Steve said and chuckled. He drew his wooden sword and accepted his inevitable bloody death.

_Seeing the sword, the enderman disappeared and Steve relaxed. But then...

_A teleport noise behind him

_A blow to the side of the head

_A crack as Steve's skull fractured

_Steve fell to the ground; barely conscious, he looked up at the enderman for mercy. Zombies started to crowd around at the thought of fresh human flesh. As they closed in, Steve said a quick prayer to God asking for heaven.

_Suddenly, an explosion shook the earth and two of the zombies fell over in pain. Steve looked up to see what was happening. The dust cleared and a teenage girl emerged.

_She spun around and kicked a zombie's face in while grabbing another and throwing it a good 10-12 feet. The two remaining slowly backed up and ran away.

_Smiling, she stared straight at the enderman, challenging him. The jaw reopened and the enderman disappeared in a flash of purple particles. The girl then counted on her fingers to three and curled up in a ball. The enderman reappeared and swung at where her head used to be and missed, the ball she was in emitted a bright light followed by another explosion; this one twice as strong as the previous. The enderman fell to the ground, knocked out and severely burned.

_The girl then walked over to Steve and, instead of going for him, she grabbed his wooden sword. She walked back over to the enderman, cut off his head, and gabbed the ender pearl inside.

_"W-who?" was all Steve could make out. He couldn't take the throbbing in his head anymore and blacked out.

_The girl walked over to his limp body and smiled. "Finally, someone like me! A human!" She grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him to her house in the cave. "I can't wait until you wake up!"

Steve's POV

_It was warm. Nice and toasty warm! I opened my eyes to find that I was only a few yards away from a lava pit in a small cave. I moved and, with great difficulty sat up. A sharp pain quickly returned to my forehead and I doubled over in pain. Reaching up, I found my head was bandaged with some sort of cloth that was partially soaked with dry blood.

_Now that I was awake, I started to think; how long was I out? How did I get here? Who took care of me?

_I looked up and across the room; there was a girl sleeping against a wall, facing me.

_That girl! She's the one who saved me! I had the time, so I took a look at her. She looked very healthy for someone who lived in this world. She was a ginger and wore a green creeper hoodie that stopped just below her waist. Because of the angle she was sitting, I was able to look up her hoodie at her green panties, a size too small. I looked away, because I'm not perverted; but then turned back. Wow she was cute! The silky skin, small breasts and everything else; and I don't even know her yet!

_She woke up then and I closed by eyes, but I could still see through them. She pulled her hoodie a little lower so I couldn't see up there and knelt beside me.

_"Come on, wake up Mr. Human!" She said. Wow, even her voice was cute! She took off the bandage around my head while I pretended to wake up.

_"Ugg..." I groaned, then, looking up at her, "How long was I out?"

_"About eight hours; sunrise should be soon. Anyway, do you want some bread Mr. Human?"

_I couldn't refuse the bread; I hadn't eaten well since I got here. So between mouthfuls I asked; "Who are you?"

_"The human who saved you" she replied.

_"I know that much, I was conscious until you cut off the enderman's head. I meant what's your name?"

_"My name?"

_"Yes. Your name."

_"Ummm... I believe the name I was assigned was Cupa"

_"Cupa? Hmm... interesting. Anyway, the name's Steve; not Mr. Human. Why were you calling me that?"

_"You are a human right?"

_"Don't I look like one?"

_"Well looks can be deceiving..."

_"What's that supposed to–"

_"Come on, lets watch the sunrise!" She shot up and started toward a set of stairs. I got up too, but lost balance and fell back down. The second time I got up, Cupa was there with a cane-like stick.

_"Thanks."

_"Come on, we're gonna miss it!"

_We were closer to the surface than I thought- a single flight of stairs took us to the top. We stepped out to the chalky-red sky. She sat down on a log and I beside her. Sunrise really was beautiful. It marked the end of night, the end of fear, the end of paranoia. Zombies and Skeletons burned up, Spiders went away, Creepers despawned; only to come back the following night, of coarse. But it was a beautiful calm between storms.

_But this girl? Who is she? What did she mean when she said "looks can be deceiving"; what else other than a human could I be? How is she undamaged by this world; she doesn't even have calluses for god's sake! And although it's entirely possible I was hallucinating at the time; I could've sworn I saw her blow up. Twice! My brain hurt thinking about it, my brain hurt not thinking about it. Speaking of my head, I felt around my head, and sure enough there was a really soft spot in the back right. It doubled the pain to the touch. That bastard enderman broke my skull! It's a wonder I'm still alive! Cupa was saying something about how pretty the sun was; but I couldn't hear her because the pain increased to the point where it engulfed my other senses. As my brain swelled, I blacked out again.


	3. The Stone

Please check out my profile, **hydrogen2oxygen98**, for updates and story info; rather than seeing it at the top of each chapter like some authors.

**Chapter 3 - The Stone**

Cupa's POV

_Steve had lost consciousness again. *sigh* He's as good as dead... If only I had saved him sooner. My abilities could've made it possible. He's my only companion, and if he dies, I'm alone in this world. Well, not entirely alone... there's always Teacher.

_I stood up. "That's it! I'll take him to Teacher! Teacher will know what to do! Come on Steve," I grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him along, "We're going deeper into the caves!"

Third Person POV

_Cupa dragged Steve back into the lava room. She grabbed a large piece of bark, big enough to support Steve, and rolled him onto it. She then dragged that instead of his wrist.

_Cupa then continued on the trek through the caves.

_It was dark. Pitch-black actually, but creepers can see in the dark better than the best human eye can. Cupa stopped to take a break about 15 minutes in. She sat down next to Steve and although there was no light, she could've sworn she saw some sort of shadow on the wall.

_A few seconds later, she continued on her way, but was now cautiously looking around. A moan was the answer she was looking for.

_"Damn! I was almost there too... Come out and fight me like monsters!" Even Cupa couldn't see a whole lot, but when she felt something brush up against her, she exploded, and was careful not to hurt Steve.

_But the zombies were closing in on her and Steve fast. She picked up the bark and dragged Steve along. It started to get lighter as they approached the teacher's temple. Once Cupa could see more clearly, she looked around and nearly fainted at the shear number of them. There was no choice now; she had to turn into monster form in order to drive them off. A flash of white light and an explosion later all of the zombies were knocked out, but Steve had woken up.

_"Uggg... What's going on?" Steve dizzily sat up and looked around. The first thing he laid his eyes on was Cupa; in creeper form.

_"Ahh! G-get away from me!" Steve got up to run and immediately fell down again. Creeper walked closer to Steve and could see the fear in his eyes. The creeper started to glow white and instead of exploding turned into Cupa.

_"Wha... Cupa?"

_"Yes"

_"You're a–"

_"Yes. Look Steve, I'm sorry I didn't tell you this earlier, but–"

_"Get away from me!"

_"You don't trust me?"

_"People who trust anyone other than themselves die in this world! I'm better off on my own!"

_"Yes, but if you're on your own then no one can help you. I want to help you, it's only a few more–"

_"You're one of them!"

_"No I'm not! I have consciousness! I have sentience!"

_"A self-aware creeper is the last thing I need! I'm leaving."

_"I'm just what you need! You can't possibly make it out of these caves by yourself Steve! I don't want the only human I know to die!"

_"If that's true then why are we in these caves in the first place?"

_"To heal you!" Cupa was starting to cry "I risked my life coming down here in human form, just to save yours! You ungrateful, ignorant jerk! If I was going to kill you, why did I save you from that enderman! I hope all humans aren't complete assholes like you!"

_"Come on, *snif* we're almost there"

_Both of them walked into the temple in silence. It was an enormous structure; spherical in shape and had a golden pedestal in the center. Lit by rows of fire up the walls, everything was clearly visible. As they walked down to the center, Steve looked over at Cupa. Her face was red and she wiped away a tear, obviously hurt at what Steve had thought of her. _Oops_ Steve thought.

_As they approached the golden pedestal, it became clear that there was a blue, translucent stone sitting on it.

_"What is that?" Steve said as he gestured to the rock.

_"_that_" Cupa said, "is Teacher"

_"Teacher?" Steve asked

_"Yes, Teacher," a third voice said. And the room started to spin.

_"Cupa! Is the room spinning or is it just my head?"

_"The room is spinning Steve."

_Their platform did not move, but the room around them really started to move. The wind started to pick up and the fire danced on the walls, but as the speed increased, they created elaborate patterns. All this happened in a few seconds before everything stopped and both Steve and Cupa blacked out.

_"Steve! Rise!" A strong, male voice commanded. Steve opened his eyes and stood up. He was in the fields on the surface and looked around for the source of the voice. He soon had his answer as an owl with a 16 foot wingspan landed in front of him. It was also a translucent blue, like the rock.

_"I am Magister, or Teacher in desired form, at your service!"

_"If you haven't received a proper greeting yet then I have one for you now; welcome to Minecraft!"

_"Welcome?"

_"Yea!"

_"Welcome!?"

_"Yes!"

_"Welcome!?"

_"Uh... I think so?"

_"Let me tell you something here_ teacher_. I lost my old life coming here! I lost home! I lost things! I lost friends! I lost family! I was placed in a savage world destitute! And you tell me WELCOME?"

_"Yep."

_"Tell me why"

_"I can't; not now"

_"Well then what was the point of bringing me down here?"

_"To rejuvenate you," teacher stated.

_"What?"

_"When you regain consciousness you'll find that your skull has healed, you'll have a full stomach, and you will have muscle mass and other physical characteristics reverted to how they were when you got here a little over three weeks ago."

_"Oh. Thank you."

_"I'm not the one you should be thanking; you should be thanking Cupa."

_"Huh?"

_"I have a limited range of influence; about 50 meters, so although I am almost omniscient, I can't move (and require large amounts of energy to run.) So Cupa had to bring you down here in order for me to heal you. She risked a lot; she traveled almost 300 meters in pure darkness, In human form, dragging the piece of bark carrying you behind her."

_"She could've died! Why would she do that?"

_"Are you lonely Steve?"

_"What does that have to do with anything?"

_"Are you lonely?"

_"A little at times"

_"Guess who else is lonely?"

_"Cupa?"

_"She's lived here her whole life of fifteen years; never once has she seen another human. I'm the only other sentient life she's ever known! I've been filling her up with information on humans in hopes that one day, she might run into one."

_"So?"

_"Steve! There is a difference, a big difference, between _surviving_ and_ living_. Just because this world is evil doesn't mean the people in it are!"

_"Cupa wants to live! That's why she risked her life to save the only person she knew! She's lonely and has finally found a companion"

_"I wish I could say I would do the same for her..."

_"That doesn't matter! Now whether you choose to apologize to her or not is up to you, but I strongly recommend that you cooperate with her; it would help both of you out. That is all. Return to Minecraft!"

_Steve woke up and looked around. He was still in the temple, but he felt great! He didn't have a near-seizure headache, he wasn't hungry, he wasn't tired, and he could feel! He hasn't felt this alive in a while.

_"Thank you Magister! No, thank you Cupa! Where is she?" Steve looked to the pedestal and found Cupa floating in the air next to the stone, staring at it in a trance.

_After a few minutes, they did come down and the stone returned to its previous location, and Cupa was gently placed on the floor. A few seconds later she woke up. Steve was kneeling over her and she immediately looked the other way, holding her grudge.

_"Hey Cupa," Steve started.

_"What do you want?"

_"Are you still mad from before?"

_"Why shouldn't I be?"

_"Listen, I'm sorry about before, I get that way sometimes. I've been stuck in hell for what seems like forever, so when I got a blessing, I didn't recognize it at first and pushed it out of the way. I apologize for being self-centered and rude. Will you forgive me?"

_Cupa blushed a little but then straightened her face before answering, "only if you treat me like a human rather than a monster"

_"Of coarse I will, thanks for bringing me down here''

_"Come on, lets go" Cupa got up and started to walk out.

_"Wait!" The third voice said. Both of them looked at the stone. "Two things, One; Steve, good job, I know that saying sorry is hard for you! Two; take me with you."

_"What?!" They both said together.

_"Take me with you."

_"Why?" Cupa said

_"Because I'm bored."

_"Good enough reason as any, welcome to the team!" Steve said and Cupa rolled her eyes.

_"Thank you, I feel welcomed. If you look on the underside of my pedestal you will find that you can pull out the bronze sword that is stashed there. It may help. I'm going to sleep now."

_Steve put the stone in his pocket and grabbed the sword. Together he and Cupa walked out of the cave system, ready to face the world. The World of Minecraft.


	4. The Traveler

Please check out my profile, **hydrogen2oxygen98**, for updates and story info; rather than seeing it at the top of each chapter like some authors.

**Chapter 4 - The Traveler**

_Cupa and Steve encountered no resistance on the way back; Magister gave off enough light to repel monsters.

_In a week's time, they had finished a stone hut against the side of a mountain with a workable door. Still as an extra precaution, they took shifts each night. Since they did get sleep at night, their days became ten times more productive.

_Steve found a fruit tree that made a fruit that tastes like a under-ripe plum, but is the size of a large apple. Calling it a plumapple tree, this food supply made hunting for meat from pigs and other animals nearly obsolete.

_Cupa managed to get some wool off the roaming sheep to make a hammock (only one person slept at a time; two hammocks were unnecessary)

_Magister spent a lot of time thinking and lighting up the house at night.

_One week after that; they went exploring; and that is where the next chapter of our story begins...

_"Ready?" Shouted Steve

_"Hold on!" replied Cupa, "We have to make sure we remember everything just in case we can't make it back before sunset."

_"Come on, we'll make it back way before then, just throw whatever you got in the leather backpack I made."

_"What if we forget something?"

_"Cupa, with all the stuff you brought, you two could stay a night and fight off twenty zombies!" Magister suddenly shouted, "just go explore already!"

_"Ok we're going, light up the house while we're gone!" said Steve

_"Will do!" said Magister

_"Bye!"

_Both Cupa and Steve were aiming to find the highest point they could so they could map their area out. Their house would be easy enough to spot; it was against a mountain and in a clearing.

_"We should climb a tree to figure out where the highest point in the area is," suggested Steve, placing his stuff down.

_"Ok... sure"

_Steve grabbed hold of the lowest branch and pulled himself up. "Are you coming up?" Asked Steve giving her his hand.

_"No thanks, I'm not the strongest..."

_"That's not true at all! You beat the shit out of that enderman I looked at!"

_"True..."

_"So come on up"

_"No."

_"There's a great view!"

_"NO."

_"Why not?"

_"I'm scared of heights OK!"

_Steve burst out laughing and Cupa blushed.

_"Sto-op it!"

_"The great, fearless Cupa, slayer of hundreds of horrors, gets dizzy a few feet off the ground? I don't believe you!"

_"No! It's true! Leave me alone!"

_"Fine, suit yourself; I'll just take a quick look." Steve quickly climbed up the tree to get a look of where they were.

_When Steve jumped down from the tree he said, "Okay, with the pond in front of us being 12 o'clock, our house is at 7 and the tallest mountain is at 2. It looks pretty overgrown though.

_"It must be in another biome; probably jungle."

_"Wait, there are biomes here too?"

_"Yep."

_"Wow..."

_"So are we going to go sometime today or what?" Teased Cupa

_"Yea, we're going right now!"

_They journeyed onto where the forest and jungle biomes met. Steve thought it was and interesting experience transitioning from one to the next. It felt like he walked through some sort of remarkable bubble that prevented winds from occurring between the two temperature zones.

_Cupa just walked right through it without batting an eye.

_"Wow the temperature and the upward climb make a killer combo," said Cupa as she took a drink at a brook they found.

_"Yea, next on my to-do list is make some canteens. In about 20 minutes, lets continue with our hike."

_"Is minute a measurement of time?"

_"Yeah, wait; I thought Magister gave you all the information he had on humans. You should know about how long a minute is."

_"Teacher can't give me all the information at once; instead he gives me lessons about once every seven days."

_"You know what a day is, but you don't know what a minute is?"

_"Yep."

_"How did you understand my 12 o'clock mapping then?"

_"I didn't, I just followed- AAAAAAAAAH"

_"What?" Steve jumped up. "What is it?"

_"C-c-cat!"

_"Oh, come ON! You have to be kidding!"

_"G-get it away f-from me!"

_"I know ocelots and cats repel creepers in-game but-"

_"Stop talking a get your ass over here!"

_"Fine, fine" Steve walked between Cupa and the cat. "Shoo! Before Cupa beats you or something!" When the cat didn't move, Steve picked it up but the scruff of the neck and brought it deeper into the woods before placing it down.

_"T-thanks" Cupa said when Steve returned, "I know it's an irrational fear, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still scared."

_"Its okay, are you all rested up?"

_"Yeah, we can go when you're ready."

_"Lets go then."

_They reached the top of the mountain about an hour later; a little after midday. And they were burning up; the hike, heat and humidity drained their energy.

_"Plumapple?" Asked Steve

_"Yes _please_"

_"Here you go. Uh... Cupa? What are you doing?" She took off her hoodie to reveal not a shirt underneath, but a green bra. "Cupa? What are you doing?" Steve repeated.

_"I'm burning up so I thought I would shed some layers." She simply replied.

_"Cupa, keep your clothes on please; it's making me uncomfortable."

_"Why should I; you never have a shirt on"

_"Thats because it got torn up and is no longer wearable! Plus I'm a guy!"

_"What does having a deep voice have anything to do with it?" Cupa asked as she unclasped her bra.

_"You mean Magister never told you about sex?"

_"No. What's that?" The bra fell and Steve turned around.

_"Cupa, put your bra back on or you're going to regret this when you find out what sex is!"

_"Okay, fine! If it means that much to you!" Cupa said as she put her bra back on.

_"Yes it does, thank you!"

_"Can we rest a little before we map stuff out?"

_"Yea it might be a good idea." Steve laid down on his back and Cupa put her head on his chest.

_They both made the mistake of closing their eyes.

Cupa's POV

_I was a little groggy and cold as I woke up. I looked around for my sweater and couldn't see it right away because it was dark. Dark?

_I jumped up just in time to see the last of thesun slip below the horizon.

_"Steve! Wake up!" I yelled

_"Huh?" He murmured then opened his eyes "Shit!" He shouted and shot up. "What happened?"

_"We fell asleep together, as in, at the same time" I said putting on my hoodie.

_"Damn! And we have no light because Magister is at home!"

_"Afraid so"

_"How did you survive your nights alone?"

_"I turned into a creeper and waited it out. You?"

_"I ran"

_"Well we can see if the moon comes out tonight, and we have a sword so it shouldn't be a problem."

_"But if the moon doesn't come out..."

_"We're screwed"

_He was silent for a moment, then;

_"Well, I'm just going to wait the night out in that really tall tree! Are you coming?"

_"Steve; how about this; I go in the forest as a creeper, scout it out a little and then come back and show you a safe route."

_"I don't even care about mapping anymore, lets go!"

_I walked ahead alone for a little while, there didn't appear to be any monsters, so I gave him the ok to walk with me. It was amazing how he was changing; before he was fine with being a coward, now he's okay with taking on a monster or two.

_"Cupa?" Steve asked

_"Yes?" I whispered

_"Stop walking; I hear something."

_We stopped walking and listened. A moan was heard to our right and a spider slurp was heard behind us.

_"Fight or Flight?" He asked

_"Flight" I responded, "Just because we only hear two, doesn't mean there's a lot more."

_"Lets go!" He took off

_I turned into human form and chased after him. He was hacking at the underbrush as he was going, clearing a path for me, but still I was running out of breath keeping up with him. He suddenly stopped dead and I ran into him.

_"Am I hallucinating, or do you see that light too?"

_I looked over his shoulders and sure enough, I saw a feint orange glow. "It's probably just surface lava," I said.

_"But, it _could_ be someone's house!"

_"You're too optimistic!"

_"You're too pessimistic!" He shot back and ran toward the light.

_We broke through the trees and into a lit clearing. There was a tent and a man sitting on a log sharpening a metal sword with a rock. He was pretty old and could've easily been 50 or 60; he had deep wrinkles, a dark scar under his eye, and a long grey beard. That having been said, he was very muscular and probably pretty tall. He looked at Steve, looked at his sword, looked back at Steve, and then behind Steve where I was hiding, before saying "Ya know, I thought I heard someone runnin' around out there."

_Steve stood forward. "The name's Steve, and this is Cupa." I waved my hand a little before backing off again. Why was I so scared of this guy? He's a human after all! "Our house is about two miles that way and we were trying to get back."

_"What the fuck ar yer doing out 'ere then?"

_"We overslept," I said

_"Ah, and the two of yer live together then?"

_"Uhh, yeah, two is much safer than one; you know; Safety in Numbers?"

_"So this is the 'two kids meet in a hostile world and have sex' kind of story?"

_Steve blushed and continued, "NO, I've only known her for a little over a week."

_"That don't matter in this world!"

_"Steve?" I whispered, "What is sex?"

_"Not now Cupa..." He whispered back then addressed the man "I'm still a decent person though!"

_"Oh really?"

_"I'm a Christian!"

_The man burst out laughing. "I know plenty of lustful Christians! That don't got nothin' to do with it!"

_"But I keep to my morals and am a decent person!" Steve repeated.

_"Morals? In hell?"

_They stared at each other for a little while before he said, "I like ya boy, ya got quite the character!" Then he chuckled. "I'm a traveller; the night is no threat to me! I'm a blacksmith; I forge the tools that keep me alive! I'm a man; I know how difficult it is out here! My name is Beard!"

_I felt a giggle leave me and instantly hid behind Steve again.

_"What?" Beard asked

_"Nothing," I said, "Your name's fitting!"

_"Alright, we're heading home now, it would be nice if you came along, but you don't have to." Steve told him.

_"I'm bored out of my mind just fighting zombies because I can; I'll come with ya! Give me a moment to pack up my things"

_"Alright!" Steve said as Beard disappeared into the tent.

_"Steve," I whispered, "Why are we inviting him to come along?"

_"Let's face it Cupa; we need help."

_"But I just have a bad feeling about him..."

_"I don't, I believe he's a really good guy that knows the land well and we can learn from him. You'll need to listen to him closely if you want to live as a human."

_"I know but, it's like this sixth sense..."

_"Cupa," he gave me a hug despite how much shorter I was. "It'll be fine," he whispered, "I promise."

_His grip was so reassuring. I calmed down dramatically. Why did he have this effect on me? Was it some power humans had? I hugged him back because of the warmth and confidence he gave me, but that's when he broke away.

_Beard hobbled out of the tent. "Ok, 'ere is ta show that I'm not gonna kill you. I got two presents." He handed them to us, "Steel Dagger for the lady, and new shoes to run in for the gent!"

_"Wow, thanks!" I said, not having to rely on Steve for our only weapon

_"Steel? Not Iron?" asked Steve

_"Yep! It rusts as fast as a pig eats shit, but it's the strongest metal I got!"

_"What is the alloy for Steel?"

_Beard started rolling up his tent, "Iron and Carbon!"

_"How'd you get your hands on some carbon?" Steve was asking questions not in a quizzical way, but a curious way.

_"Trust me, when there's a will, I have a way,"

_"Cool"

_Beard stuffed the tent up into this enormous backpack which he put on. "Let's move out!" He said and gave Steve the kerosene lamp that was lighting up the site.

_We continued the hike down the mountain in silence, listening to the slightest moan or hiss. It was a much longer trek down the mountain than up. We were just about to cross into the forest biome when Steve suddenly stopped /again/ and whispered, "Creeper"

_"Where?" Beard eagerly said.

_"Downhill being 12 o'clock; 10:30."

_"Ahh, I see the bastard, watch this!" He took out a bow and a single arrow. He rested his backpack next to him and strung the bow. Pulling back, he said "Good riddance, vermin of the earth!" And let go.

_The arrow sailed through the air and hit the creeper between the eyes, killing it instantly.

_"Okay resume hike!" He said and got his backpack on. We followed in silence.

_Even after the long nap, I was tired; I wasn't used to all this walking and couldn't wait for the hammock at home, or even better, resting on Steve's chest again.

_After another mile, we were almost at our house and you could see the blue glow. But a mob of about 15 zombies blocked our path.

_"Cupa, I think you're going to need to explode."

_"Say what?" asked Beard

_"Okay, Steve. Beard, this might be hard for you; don't kill me please." I focused my energy into transformation and turned into a creeper. When I looked at Beard again he was sweating and his hands were shaking. I ignored him and walked over to the zombies. They all walked toward me, thinking I had something to say. But instead I flexed my explode muscle and killed them all before turning back into a human and climbing out of the crater I made.

_"F-f-fucking f-f-freak!"

_"I'm not a freak! I just have some abilities!"

_"Get away from me you demon!"

_"Demon..." I murmured, why do first impressions never go well?

_"Beard! That's enough!" Steve shouted walking over to comfort me.

_"It's not enough! She's the fucking enemy!"

_"Then why did the enemy just help us? Huh?"

_"..." Beard thought about this for a moment before dismissing it "I'm going inside to make a coffee."

_"Ok..."

_He closed the door, and I swear, not three seconds later we could hear, "Oh dear God! What the fuck it _that_?"

_"_that_" Steve said, "would be teacher!"


	5. The Subconscious Plain

Please check out my profile, **hydrogen2oxygen98**, for updates and story info; rather than seeing it at the top of each chapter like some authors.

**Chapter 5 - The Subconscious Plain**

_"W-w-who are ya?" Beard stuttered.

_"I am Magister!"

_All three of them were on the grassy plain Steve was taken once before. Magister was in his owl form.

_"What are ya then?"

_"I am a Stone of Minecraft."

_"AStone?"

_"Yes"

_"And ya teach?"

_"Yes"

_"Well, where the 'ell am I?"

_"What I like to call theSubconscious Plain."

_"Subconscious?"

_"Yes, you are technically dreaming right now"

_"What?"

_"Don't worry, nothing is happening to your bodies while we talk."

_"What type of powers do you possess that you can control someone's consciousness?"

_"You want to know my powers?"

_"Yea! Lay them all out right now!"

_"Number 1: I can keep you in the subconscious plain indefinitely; so please stop being rude to me. Understood?"

_"Understood..."

_"Magister," Steve said, "Can you tell me about your powers too? I am curious."

_"I don't think the lot of you are going to die anytime soon so here it goes. Number 2: I can never forget anything. Everything I learn stays with me, everything I see stays with me, this has made me very wise. Number 3: I can modify your brain directly; instantly teaching you new abilities;but it requires massive amounts of energy and I've only done it with Cupa a few times. Number 4: I can give semi-sentient monsters a brain and a human body."

_"What?" Steve now saw the connection between Cupa and Magister

_"I've onlysuccessfully done it once, with Cupa, and treated her like my daughter, taught her what it was to be human, and hoped one day she might have a companion."

_"Wow, that clears things up then," Steve looked at Cupa.

_"How'd ya get here?" asked Beard

_"You request to know of my origins?"

_"Same difference."

_"I cannot tell you that now."

_"Why not?"

_"You three have a city to found!"

_"Say what" they said together

_"You're not the only ones that are brought to this world; you're just the 5% that survive!"

_"Killed by monsters?" Steve asked

_"Some commit suicide, but for the most part, yes."

_"How do monsters spawn?"

_"Spawn? What do you mean spawn?"

_"They pop out of nowhere as the last bit of sun slips below the horizon!"

_"The monsters are real biological creatures"

_"Huh?"

_"They are made of cells that grow exponentially; these cells can live on very low nutrition. But, because of this growth and lack of nutrition they only have a lifespan of of about a week. At the end of that cycle, the head will pop off; asexual reproduction."

_"Eww" squealed Cupa "Is that my monster form?"

_"No, your cells are stable."

_"Thank god!"

_"But I've beheaded hundreds of monsters and they disappear within the hour!" Beard pointed out

_"It was premature reproduction and the organism could not live. The cells also decay at an accelerated rate, leaving no trace the following day."

_"Wow. Any exceptions?" Steve asked

_"Yes, slimes and endermen. I'll tell you about them later, you have a city to build!"

_"I'm still not getting the city part..."

_"Over the next few days, the nearest spawn point will be ending its yearly cycle where it will send out a person every 12 hours. Go there, and have those people join your group."

_"One last question." Steve said, "Where do the monsters come from."

_"Haven't you noticed the excessive amounts of caves? They live in them! Now carry out your mission!"

_"Will do Teacher!" Replied Cupa

_"Whatever you say, Magister!" Said Steve

_"Yea, I guess I'll help" grumbled Beard

_"Now re-enter the world! (Except if I may have a word with beard)"

_"What?" Beard said as the other two vanished from the subconscious plain.

_"Why do you resist me?"

_"Frankly, I don't trust ya!"

_"Is it because I'm new and unknown to you?"

_"That's a big part o' it."

_"What's the rest of it?"

_"Does it matter?"

_"No, just curious. I think you're afraid of change."

_"What?"

_"People surviving more than a week, Creeper girl, talking stone; it's all out of the norm for you!"

_"Yeah."

_"You have to face that things are about to change, and do your best to contribute to the new city!"

_"What's in it fo' me?"

_"An end to your boring lifestyle."

_"Hey! I happen ta like my borin' lifestyle!"

_"Anyway, you're a blacksmith right?"

_"Yeah"

_"Here's a deal; I'll explain to you the difference between forged and casted iron, how to make stainless steel, and where to mine for diamonds, if you give me 3 lbs of gold."

_"What the 'ell ya want 3 lbs of gold fo'?"

_"Nutrition"

_"Huh?"

_"I'll explain later, deal?"

_"I already know about stainless steel..."

_"Deal?"

_"It's adeal"

_"Friends?"

_Beard paused a moment "Sure, I've got nothing against ya, unless it gets me killed"


	6. Steel and Light

Please check out my profile, **hydrogen2oxygen98**, for updates and story info; rather than seeing it at the top of each chapter like some authors.

**Part II**

**Chapter 6 - Steel and Light**

Steve POV

_"There it is" shouted Cupa

_"It doesn't seem real" I said

_"Huh, I've seen plenty on my journeys!" huffed Beard

_"How many have you seen active?" I snapped back

_"None..."

_"Come on you guys! Lets go!" Cupa said and slid down the cliff we were looking at it from.

_It didn't seem to fit the minecraft theme, but it was amazing. A huge disk with a 40 meter diameter was spinning slowly in the air. A thick beam of light came from both poles. This is where I entered the world, where my adventure began, where our city will begin.

_We followed her down the cliff and sat next to it, waiting for something to happen. About 20 minutes later I noticed that the disk's spinning had doubled speed.

_/SCANNING SUBJECT

_"Eh?" Beard looked up at the disk. The white light that came from it had turned blue.

_/REORGANIZING ORGANIC MATTER

_"That voice! Is it coming from the spawn point?" Cupa asked.

_"Yup" I said

_/STARTING REANIMATION AT COORDINATES x(-15000) y(63) z(2435000) SPAWN IN 30 SECONDS

_"It's preparing for a new spawn, expect this every 12 hours for the next week or so," Magister stated.

_"So 14 new people?" I asked.

_"More or less, probably more."

_"Safety in Numbers."

_"Yes, but also more people you're responsible for."

_/INITIATING CONSCIENCE

_/SUBJECT 2004512 IS READY

_/SPAWNING SEQUENCE COMPLETE

_/SPAWNING SUBJECT IN 10 SECONDS

_The disk doubled speed again, sending a wind around us. Thee color of the light changed to golden. "Here we go" said Steve, "another member"

_/5...4...3...2...1

_There was a very big flash of light and a very loud bang. The wind stopped, the beam's light returned to white. A few feet away on the ground, a man in a lab coat was on the ground unconscious. He was a little over twenty, wore glasses, and was probably 6' 6" or taller. As we got closer, he woke up.

_"Whaa..." He looked around, soon spotting us, "Hey, uh, where am I?" He said quickly

_"Minecraft" I replied, "Who are you?"

_"My name is Ryan, I'm with the new astronomy research team on a project called Observe." He said proudly before quickly saying," We're funded by NASA. It's cool. H-how did I get here? W-where Am I?"

_"Minecraft" I repeated

_"Never heard the place," Ryan said

_"What?" I said, "You haven't heard of Minecraft?"

_"N-n-no?"

_"The super popular sandbox game developed by Mojang!"

_He shook his head

_"How old are you?"

_"Well!" Beard interrupted, "I'll go to sleep now so I can take the night shift." He and Cupa got his tent out and started to pitch it.

_"My name is Ryan, I am 22, I have never heard of Minecraft."

_"Okay, I'll put it this way. At night, monsters come out. If you don't have a weapon, you have no chance of survival."

_"uh..but..uh..you survived."

_"Beard is the only one that can truly make it on his own, we banded together with Magister who created Cupa and-"

_"WOAH!" Beard jumped up, "are we just gonna tell 'im about the rock without thinkin it through first?"

_"We have to brief everyone if we have a chance of surviving."

_"I don't know, somethin tells me that if everyone knew about Magister, it could turn into a power struggle. You can tell 'im, but consider consulting with me first next time we brief-"

_"Ryan! Step forth! I will tell you who I am!"

_"Oh my god, really?" Cupa dropped the tent and opened up the backpack Magister was hiding in and took him out. "Does your introduction always have to sound like you're a king or a god?"

_"I am omniscient!"

_"Oh please! Just give him the briefing while we set up camp."

_There were two tents, one for Cupa, and one for Ryan and I. As much as I wanted to be in the same tent as her, she needed her privacy. Beard woke up right before the sun went down, and stood as watch that night. It wasn't long before there were zombie moans outside.

_"W-w-what was that?" Ryan stuttered.

_I waited for the twang of the bow and the death sound before saying, "Zombies."

_"Z-zombies? Don't be ridiculous!"

_"Want to go out there and find out yourself?"

_"N-no."

_"Is it because you're scared?" I challenged

_"N-no!"

_"Prove it!"

_"Ok," he slowly got up and started to open the tent flap before I yanked him back down.

_"Are you crazy?" I said, "don't go out there while Beard's killing everything that moves!"

_"I may be timid, b-but I don't believe you."

_"Okay then, Hey! Beard! Are there any monsters out there?!"

_We waited for a few seconds before something white flew through a hole in our tent and landed in Ryan's lap. He turned it over and saw it was a skeleton's skull with a bit of the spine still attached and an arrow through the forehead. I looked over to him and found a priceless, horrific expression on his face. It was very funny before he screamed like a girl at the top of his lungs.

_"God DAMNIT Ryan!" Beard yelled back, "Now they're all going to come this way!"

_"Hey, Cupa did that wake you up?" I laughed

_A heard a tired and muffled "go to hell" in her direction before lying down. There was rapid breathing in my tent, knowing what it was, I took the skull off Ryan's lap and threw it back out of the hole and closed it up with a pin.

_"Plumapple?" I offered

_Ryan said nothing and slowly took it from me. As he ate it, color returned to his face.

_"Sorry for the scare. With Beard out there, you have nothing to worry about."

_"Ya put too much faith in me!" Beard said from outside.

_"Is that a bad thing?" I asked

_"Well..." He was thinking about it when I cut him off.

_"I'm going to sleep!" I announced, "If you do get sleep, Ryan, don't elbow me."

_"Goodnight!" Beard said

_"Goodbye!" Ryan replied

_Dawn. Sunrise. It is always beautiful. And the spawn point started up again about an hour later. A hyper 12 year old named Drew came out, although I was for telling him about Magister, Beard advised me against it and I listened to him.  
_There was friction between Ryan and Drew right away. Ryan was a well established man and thought everything through twice; he knew himself. Drew plunged head first into all kinds of trouble without thinking anything through; he had no clue what to do with his life.

_On the bright side, Drew knew all about Minecraft and that he should play it safe. Beard (Thank God) told us he would watch after Drew and perhaps make him a blacksmith's apprentice.

_Cupa stayed in her tent all morning and when I peeked in her tent to check on her, she yelled at me to go away. It was strange, her dramatic change in mood, a little TOO strange...

_"Magister?" I asked on one of my breaks (we were chopping down the forest around us to make a bigger clearing)

_"YO! Waz up ma bro?"

_"Excuse me?"

_"Sorry, *ahem*, what can I do for you?"

_"Cupa's been acting down all morning, did you have anything to do with it?"

_"I may have"

_"Have you taught her anything new lately?"

_"As a matter of fact, after I told her that people are known to kill each other, she did seem sort of crestfallen."

_"She didn't know this?"

_"Nope"

_"My advice to you; take World War II off the list and give her sex Ed."

_"You giving me advice?"

_"You better believe it; because you maybe her creator, but I just happen to like her. She's 15 and still doesn't know the difference between guys and girls, has an underdeveloped sense of privacy, and had no clue what sex is. Now get your rear in gear or I'll tell her myself!"

_"Don't! You won't be a good teacher!"

_"I'll be better than you!"

_"I have my reasons!"

_"And I respect them. Listen; I love how innocent Cupa is too, but we can't protect her forever with all of these men coming out of the spawn point!"

_"I'll tell her in a month or so"

_"But-"

_"STEVE!" shouted Beard, "Get your lazy ass over here and help us with this stubborn oak!"

_"I'm coming over!" I picked up my ax and ran to the tree.

_Right before dinner, Mike popped out of the spawner. Mike was EXACTLY like Drew and they were friends almost instantly. But night was only a few hours away.

_Ryan spent his day, rather than working, identifying kinds of plants he knew of and recording the new ones. According to him, 70 percent of the plant life here is exclusive to this world, but he's not sure because "he's just a simple astronomer"

_We went to bed in the same fashion as the night before; with Beard as the watchman.

_"Hey watch it!" Drew poked Mike

_"Move over!" Mike poked back. It wasn't long before an all out brawl was taking place in our tent. Ryan sighed and I told him I was going somewhere else to sleep. To my surprise, he came along and we both left the tent.

_I stepped out into the torchlight and walked over to the campfire, to my surprise I found Cupa there as well as Beard. I was going to comment on letting us know so we could use her tent, but considering what she learned, added to the fact that she's actually talking to Beard, I kept my mouth shut.

_"Hey Cupa, nice night!" I tested how she was feeling.

_"Yeah! The air is fresh, the moon is out, and we've only seen two zombies!"

_"Great!" I was surprised at how fast she recovered. "Are you okay from earlier today?"

_"Yeah, I just didn't think that much sin was-"

_Her sentence was interrupted by Ryan furiously flipping through pages in a book of constellations. He soon closed it and opened up another book of start charts. "Umm.. Guys?" he started and flipped to the index before going to another page and back to the first. "You may not believe this, but it's true!"

_"What's it?" Beard huffed

_"These constellations match up perfectly with the ones on Earth."

_"So?"

_"We never left Earth, Minecraft is Earth in another universe or something. I'm sure of it! In fact, if I just-"

_Ryan was in turn cut of by the snap of a twig, and the four of us instinctively whipped around to find three endermen.

_"Eeep!" Cupa was silenced

_"..." Steve was speechless

_"FUCK!" Beard was Beard

_"Accoring to given context, these black figures are monsters that I should run away from, correct?" Ryan observed

_Beard whipped out a heavy iron sword and stood tall, but his 6' was no match for the endermens' 7'-9'

_I grabbed my bronze sword and stood next to Beard. 'Crap' I thought 'this is how people die' Cupa hid behind me and Ryan behind Beard.

_The endermens' jaws opened and purple particles began to flood the fields.

_"Ryan" Beard whispered "sneak back to Drew and Mike; tell them to stay in the tent and whatever happens, they keep their eyes shut."

_"A-a-anything t-to get away f-from here" He slowly backed up.

_It was the three of us verses the three of them.

_*vip* the center one (the biggest) disappeared and we stood back to back waiting for him. *vip* the shortest one teleported to the edge of the clearing, as if to watch. *vip* The last one teleported out.

_"Beard?" I spoke

_"Yo"

_"How many endermen have you killed?"

_"In the thirty years I've been stuck in minecraft, two."

_"We're going to die?"

_"Not if we do this right."

_*pom* *pom* They both teleported in front of Beard. He swung for the head of the biggest one *vip* it teleported out. The other enderman swung at Beard and hit him hard in the Jaw, much to the enderman's surprise, Beard seemed unfazed and drove his sword at him.

_*pom* the big one teleported in front of me. I ducked to dodge its attack and swung the sword at its legs. *crack* The enderman crumpled and staggered before teleporting out; I had broken its left leg with the weight of my sword.

_I looked over to Beard; he was struggling. When he swung at the enderman's neck, it teleported out. When Beard finished the swing, it teleported back into the same spot and knocked the sword out of his hands. Beard hit the enderman in the jaw for a counter attack but i heard his fist crack in the process. The enderman, now aggravated grabbed Beard by the neck and threw him up against a tree. While Beard was defenseless and being strangled, I had snuck up behind the enderman and cut off his head.

_Beard fell down and gasped in as much air as he could. We heard a loud boom and found that Cupa had disintegrated the final enderman in an enormous explosion. Leaving my broken leg enderman the only one left.

_We met up together at the center of the clearing with the rest of our group.

_"Ryan! Did ya see where the last enderman went?" Beard asked

_"Of course! I watched the whole fight! He's at the bottom of the cliff!"

_"Let's finish him!"

_"Wait!" This was Magister's voice, "Take me with you!"

_"Why?"

_"Further investigation"

_"Huh?"

_"Beard just go with it!" I interrupted and picked up Magister. We carried him over to the Enderman. As we got closer, he started to glow more and more blue. "Magister are you okay?"

_"Subject is compatable; I do not have enough energy."

_"Energy?" Beard said

_"I need to consume matter to convert it into energy. Beard, can I consume your iron sword?"

_"Hell no! Take Steve's bronze sword!"

_"This sword is special!"

_"Mine is too!"

_"Shut up both of you!" Cupa said out of nowhere. Both of us jumped; we didn't even notice Cupa was behind us the whole time. "Magister can you consume any type of matter?"

_"Absolutely" he said proudly.

_"Then consume some dirt!" She said and threw him up against the cliff wall. Beard and I were both shocked with her aggression. Magister sunk in and disintegrated a good portion of the mountainside. The enderman got up and teleported away from us.

_"Not so fast!" said Magister, he turned to sand and flew up the mountainside to where the enderman was limping and teleporting away. There was a bright blue light and by the time we climbed up the cliff the enderman was gone and a beautiful girl was in her place.

_"Ah! Just as I thought! See: compatible!"

_We all gaped in awe. I was the first one to speak. "If I had known this is what you were going to do with your energy, I would've given you my bronze sword."

_"No need to now! I shall call her First Queen of Darkness Susan Jr!"

_"That's terrible!" Cupa said.

_"H-h-how about Andr?" Ryan was suddenly next to the new monster girl.

_"Hey! Ryan! When'd you get here?" I cheered.

_"I saw the blue explosion and hurried over"

_"That's a much better name." Beard said and Cupa agreed.

_"I made her! I shall call her what I want!" We all looked at him with the _are you kidding me_ look before he said "Okay! Fine! Her name is Andr! Lets go home before the brats venture out of their tents."

_Ryan picked Andr up and carried her bridal style. After we got off the cliff I whispered to Cupa, "Do you want me to carry you like that too?" She hit me in the gut but I did manage to get a blush out of her.


	7. Friends and Rivals

Please check out my profile, **hydrogen2oxygen98**, for updates and story info; rather than seeing it at the top of each chapter like some authors.

**Chapter 7 - Friends and Rivals**

Earth - John's POV

_The sirens were getting louder, closer. It was the fastest I've ever run in my life, and my muscles were screaming at me to stop. But that wasn't the reason I was crying; I had just been betrayed by my fellow gang members and my girlfriend. Why did everything bad always happen in the night?

_"Shit!" I yelled as I ducked into an alleyway; one of the police cars had almost hit me. I ran all the way through the alley and saw the blue lights waiting for me on the other side.

_"Well I guess this is the end" I drew my gun and jumped out into the street. The sound was deafening and the pain unbearable; the police had set up a blockade and when I jumped out hundreds of bullets ripped through me.

_Everything went black.

-O-

_I felt my heart beat. But that shouldn't be possible, I'm dead. The pulse got louder, harder, faster. Then an explosion of colors and light, wind whipping, thunder cracking. Everything changed from white to golden and an enormous bang knocked me out once more.

-O-

_I woke. Air flooded into my lungs. My heart was beating. I opened my eyes and looked around. I was laying on a field of short grass, I still had my leather jacket and the rest of the clothes I had on when I died, except they weren't shredded with bullet holes, and the cutest girl I had ever laid eyes on had me in her arms.

_"You ok?" She asked

_I tried to talk, I really did, but all I got out was "ugh..."

_"Here, sit up," she offered

_I did. It was hot out, unlike the cold rainy streets of Boston I had just come from, so I took off my jacket.

_"Woah! Dude! Nicely toned muscles! Finally I've got someone who can help us around here!" This voice came from a very large man probably in his 50s with a 12 inch beard.

_"Thanks" I said but choked on my own breath. The girl was closer to me now and was stroking my muscles, not with lust, but with curiosity. Regardless, it was turning me on so I stood up before it affected me further.

_"What's ya name?"

_"Uhh..." I couldn't believe I had to think about it "John" I said, "Nineteen."

_"Well John, I'm Beard! Ya best come with me, Ryan an I will give ya a briefin' about where we are, and what you can do to help."

_"Ok..." I looked back at the girl; she was still staring at me, wide eyed. She had a green hoodie with a creeper face on the hood; it dropped quite a bit past her waist, so it was possible she had very-mini shorts on, but it was equally possible she had no pants on at all.

_"So I don't really know where ta begin," Beard said, "but I'll make this brief; you're in Minecraft."

_"Huh..."

_"Please tell me you know what Minecraft is."

_"I do."

_"We'll you're in it."

_"Ok, what's the situation and how can I help?"

_"Ya not bothered by the fact?"

_"Well back on Earth I'm supposed to be dead..."

_"Woah, dude!"

_"That's not the situation for everyone?"

_"Not at all, most of us were just teleported here when we went to sleep. Except Ryan, he came here during a late night of experiments at his workplace."

_"Hmm..."

_"So are you willing to help our settlement?"

_"Absolutely."

_"Why so willing? Most people hate being ordered to work as soon as they get here."

_"It's just been a while since I've had friends."

_"Well count me as one of them, here comes Ryan now."

_I was told the situation by Ryan; this town had 12 inhabitants. I was the unlucky 13th. The "chain of command" worked something like this; Steve and Beard were in charge, Steve was a fighter, Beard the blacksmith. Drew and Mike were Steve's apprentices. While a little girl named Liz was Beard's apprentice. Ryan was the geek; he studied the organisms in the area and told us which ones were safe to eat, as well as mapping out the area and making sure everyone was safe. Cupa drove monsters away at night, as well as helped with construction. Andr was still "asleep" or whatever that meant. Brooke was the cook. Ricky and Kenko managed construction; the first cabin had just been built. Finally, They don't know his real name, so they call him X, never says anything, head always down, hood always up. As soon as the cabin was built, he just hid in the corner all day and all night. I made the grand total 13, and would be helping with labor. I was shown to Ricky and Kenko.

_"Hey," I said, "I'm the new guy"

_"Oh yeah that's right, the 12 hour cycle repeated about a half-hour ago." The Asian man said. "I'm Kenko, and this is Ricky."

_"Sup," Ricky greeted.

_"Am I the only black person here?"

_"Uhhh..." They thought about it, "Yeah"

_"But that was a random question" said Ricky "here's an axe; let's get as much done as we can before sunset."

-O-

Woods - Steve's POV

_"Both of you! Get down!" I ordered, we hid in the shadow of a log.

_"What is it?" Drew asked

_"A Bear?" Mike said

_"No, much much bigger, I've only seen it once before; now slowly lift your heads up."

_The three of us looked over the log, and we saw it. The Great Wolf I had been searching for was in front if me; a massive red eyed beast probably the size of an elephant.

_"Holy Shit!" Drew said, "That's way too dangerous!"

_"But we'll be able to feed the village for a month if we kill it." I persuaded them. They adjusted their helmets uneasily.

_"Maybe if Beard helped us, we would." Mike suggested.

_"Are you kidding! Beard would kill us for trying this! If we bring this thing back dead, we can finally prove to everyone else that we're a valuable part of the team."

_They thought about it before agreeing.

_"Alright, here's the plan: Mike; climb up that oak there, and when I clap once, yell as loud as you can to get the wolf going. Drew; you're attacking from behind, aiming for the legs, while I attack from the left, aiming for the heart. While we're fighting it, Mike will climb down and go for the neck. Understood?"

_"And if we die?" Drew asked

_"It's not like its an enderman; we aren't going to die."

_"Are you kidding? There must be 4,000 pounds of raw muscle there!"

_"It's probably more like 3 or 4 tons."

_"Goodbye, Mike"

_"Oh, cut it out! Our village can't survive on plumapples alone, so lets kill this thing!"

-O-

_A half hour later and the wolf was asleep; we changed the plan up; they would stay back while I carefully crept up. The underbrush was light, so I hardly made a sound. Ten meters and closing, nine, eight; he looked sound asleep. Seven meters, six, five; his heavy breathing confirmed my thought. Four meters, three, two; I thought about how cool it would be for me when we hauled the head of this thing back; how everyone would know I had the right to be the leader; Cupa would surely recognize me. One meter; I stopped, put both hands on my bronze sword, holding it like a dagger above my head. I yelled my loudest war cry and suck the sword into his neck with all my body weight behind it.

_It sunk in deep; all the way to the handle. The wolf howled and coughed up blood, but it was not dead and it scratched me across the chest as it got up. "Aww SHIIIIIT! Run you guys!"

_The wolf made a bark that sounded more like a roar and chased after me. It galloped at full speed, but I was faster due to my experience in minecraft. I soon lost it behind me so I turned around to go check on it. _It can't still be alive; it's losing massive amounts of blood and probably internally too._

_I turned the corner and saw it sprawled out with a river of blood flowing my direction. It was breathing deeply and coughing. It tried to get up, but fell down again and caught sight of me. It looked me right in the eye, it seemed to be staring at my soul. Then something unimaginable happened: It spoke.

_"I am not your enemy!" Its voice was hoarse and coughed up more blood before continuing, "But my creator is."

_Its final words. I had no clue what they meant.

_"HEY! Steve!" I looked over to Drew and Mike running toward me.

_"Holy crap! You did it!" Drew said

_"Without injuring anyone!" I said proudly, "But we can't haul it back to town ourselves; we'll need labor crew's help."

-O-

Spawn - Beard's POV

_"You killed a WHA?"

_"An enormous wolf! If we have enough salt we can preserve it and we can have food or months to come!" Steve was telling me.

__I still couldn't believe it. Steve had done something. Successfully. Nobody got hurt. _"Alright! Steve, I'm impressed; I'll send the labor crew ou' right away to gather it up."

__This day just keeps getting better; I got a great worker, Steve didn't screw up, and no one is going to bed hungry! Wait 'till I tell Magister the good news!_

_I headed over to Ryan's tent to talk to Magister, and was surprised to see Ryan there.

_"Hey Beard!"

_"What are ya doin' here?"

_"It's my tent isn't it?"

_"Yeah..."

_"Ok then, Magister and I were just about to modify Andr's brain to bring her up to speed instantaneously."

_"That might be helpful"

_"That's the reason why Magister hasn't been active for the past few days; he saved energy for this operation."

_"Really? I haven't missed 'im."

_"I can still hear you, dumbass!" Magister shouted out of nowhere.

_"Just start the procedure." said Ryan.

_Magister floated over to Andr's forehead and disappeared inside. About five seconds passed before Andr's body suddenly glowed 'Magister Blue' and she woke up. Magister popped out and fell onto the floor.

_I picked up Magister and put him in his holder on the table, but by the time I turned back, Ryan and Andr were already staring at each other. Deeply.

_"Hi I'm Ryan" he squatted down to her level, "Welcome to the world!"

_"Umm.." Andr bit her lip, "Hello Ryan, I'm Andr... at least that's the name I was assigned by teacher."

_"That rock needs ta sleep afta such an energy-draining operation. I wouldn't count on 'im waking up for a few days. As for me, I'm Beard and I'm leavin' because I only came here to tell 'im somethin' pretty important. But that can wait because I have to go somewhere pretty important."

_I looked back as I left the tent. Hmm. Both abnormally tall. _Both abnormally timid. They'd make a cute couple. Now onto the next task; getting the labor crew to haul a three ton object back home._

-O-

Spawn - John's POV

_"Oh my gosh! That thing is gigantic!" Cupa shouted

_"Well I'm glad someone's excited, it took us three all afternoon to drag it back here." I said as Ricky collapsed on the ground.

_"You could still get us some water though," Kenko collapsed next to him.

_"It is sooo big!"

_"Well, that's what she said." I said managing to get a chuckle out of Ricky.

_"Ricky says that too, as a joke, but I still don't get it."

_"Are you serious?"

_"I'm afraid she is John, Cupa doesn't really know too much about... you know" Kenko replied for her.

_"She's at least fifteen!"

_"I am fifteen! And I want to learn what sex is, but Teacher won't tell me!"

_"I can show you if you'd like." I offered.

_"Hands off John, we have strict orders from Steve that no one is to lay a hand on Cupa." Kenko snapped.

_"Yeah, and who's enforcing it?"

_"Beard."

_"Oh..." I thought for a second before asking, "Cupa, you said just a moment ago that Teacher would tell you, who's teacher?"

_"I haven't the slightest idea, she mentions him every once in awhile," Kenko again replied for her.

_"Stop cutting her off! Cupa, who is Teacher?"

_"You have to talk with Beard, he can introduce you." Cupa said quietly.

_"I'm starting to notice the hierarchy around here, and I've only been here half of a day. All of the power is with Steve and Beard!" I pointed out.

_"Have a problem with that?" Ricky came to their defense

_"Maybe."

_"They work their asses off too, and plus, had it not been for them founding this settlement, we'd all be dead now. End of Topic. I'm going home." Ricky fired off.

_I watched as the two left and it was soon just Cupa and I. "What's their problem?"

_"It's dinner time, they're headed toward the table."

_"Ah."

_"Well, I'm hungry, and I can't wait to eat the wolf you caught!" Cupa said excitedly.

_"We only carried it here..."

_"Same difference, let's go."

-O-

_"All right! Is everyone here?" Beard announced.

_"Doesn't matter, just start," Steve said.

_"Thanks to the efforts of the huntin' and labor teams, we have food for months! New members today include John and Jessica."

_"Just call me Jess..."

_"I have no clue which group Jessica should go with, so if you want her, take her!"

_"I'm hungry..."

_"So rather than hearing me talk for an hour, we'll dig in after two recognitions. One, the laborious task of draggin' this animal over a mile back here was completed by the labor team, especially John! Two, Ryan has found a salt deposit; keepin' food fresh longer, and makin' meals overall tastier!"

_"What about the fact that my team killed it?" I heard Steve mention. He was cut off.

_"Dig in!"

_We all sat down anywhere we wanted to along the bench. Steve sat across from me, and Cupa next to me. There were no plates or silverware; the meat was flopped on the table and you grabbed pieces off with your hands. Yet, the feeling of barbarism and living off the land was the spirit of these people, and they loved it. I had only known them for a few hours, but it was like we had been friends for a lifetime. The atmosphere was so different than the life I had known.

_"So, John, I know you helped with a 'laborious task' but Cupa, what'd you do today?" Steve bluntly said this, completely contradicting my previous statement about friends for a lifetime.

_"Hung out with Andr."

_"She's awake?"

_"Only been maybe three hours," She pointed to the end of the table where Ryan was laughing with a girl that might even be his height.

_"So, Steve, the first words out of your mouth include a sarcastic comment to me before shifting the attention to Cupa?"_ Little does Steve know I'm skilled in the art of comebacks._

_Cupa giggled at my retort.

_"I just don't like the fact that you took away my recognition."

_"You're the leader, don't you have enough recognition?"

_"You're a newbie, do you deserve any?"

_"I'm older than you."

_"I'm taller than you."

_"I'm stronger than you."

_"I'm faster than you."

_"The cake is a lie." _Why the hell not?_

_"What?" Cupa burst out laughing at Steve's dumbfound response.

_"I think we got off to a bad start, so I figured I would be best to stop the argument abruptly and start over." I explained.

_"Oh, ok."

_"My name's John."

_"I'm Steve..."

_"So Steve how long have you been working on this settlement?"

_"Beard, Cupa, and I have been-"

_"And Teacher!" Cupa cut off.

_"What?"

_"Let's tell him!"

_"Tell him what?"

_"About teacher!"

_"No"

_"Yes!"

_"N. PERIOD. O. PERIOD."

_"Why not?"

_"I don't trust him! No offense."

_"None taken," I said, listening to their conversation.

_"Steve, listen! I didn't trust Beard for the longest time, and you kept telling me to. I believed in your decision to add him to the group, so I eventually became friends with Beard. Can you believe in my decision to add John to the group?"

_I saw Steve hesitate, look me in the eye, and then say, "Fine! Let's get Beard over here."

-O-

_When we had walked a good ways away from the village, (we being Cupa, Steve, Beard, and I) Beard turned to me and took a glowing, blue stone out of his pocket.

_"John," he said, "What ya about to see is confidential."

_"Ok"

_"The only people that know about it are the people in front of ya as well as Ryan and Andr.

_"What could possibly be so important that it has to remain a secret?"

_"Me." A voice said out of nowhere, and many shades and tints of blue particles flew around me. I lost consciousness.

-O-

_I heard a voice. "Cool transition, Magister! I've never seen that one before!"

_"Thank you, you're too kind."

_"What just happened?" I asked as I got up.

_"You have been transported to the Subconscious Plain!"

_ I didn't recognize that voice, "Who said that?" I asked and turned to its direction and I was soon face to face with a giant blue owl.

_"I did. My name is Magister, and you are?"

_"J-john."

_"Nice to meet you, adding another member to our secret circle!"

_"I was going to ask you all that, why is this secret?" I was curious.

_"John, I'll walk you through it." Magister said, "I am omniscient!"

_"No you're not!" Cupa cut in.

_"Almost!"

_"But you're not!"

_"Bottom line is that I know a lot of crap."

_"Why is this a bad thing?" I asked.

_"It's not, it just has to be kept secret."

_"I'm not following."

_"Who are the leaders of this village?"

_"Steve and Beard."

_"Correct; they oversee everything and see to it that no one gets hurt. So, far they have been doing a good job with little to no guidance from me. However, because of my reasoning, I am better suited for their job."

_"So if people found out about you..."

_"No one would follow Steve."

_"You don't want to be the leader?"

_"Nope. I want to observe."

_"Why?"

_"Do I have to have a reason?"

_"Yes."

_"No I don't; before I leave I have something to tell you."

_"What?"

_"Ihavetheabiltiytochangesomemonstersintohumans. For example, CupaisactuallyacreeperthatIhavetaughttobehuman. Shestillpossessesacreeper'sabilitiessuchas, but not limited to; blowingupwithoutselfdestructingherbody. IhavealsocreatedAndrfromanenderman. GOODBYE"

_I lost consciousness.

-O-

_Sunsets are beautiful; the sun, sky, and clouds come together in a colorful display. The sky on fire, the clouds glowing, and the sun bigger than it's been all day. But it's not just a free show, in this world it comes at a price; survive the night.

_After the meeting on the subconscious plain, I thought about Magister's five second summary. _Cupa doesn't seem Creeper-like at all. She seems so cheerful, high spirited, not suicidal._

_Cupa and I were on watch duty for the night; she was going to show me the ropes because of how differently the monsters behave here than in the game.

_"First night in a while that has spiders," she said as she slashed through one.

_"I wouldn't know, but killing these things really builds up a sweat."

_"And a smell..."

_"Smell? What smell?" I asked

_"You mean you didn't die the moment you stepped into our camp?"

_"No..."

_"See, here's the problem; our camp is centered around the spawnpoint; not a freshwater source. Because of this, drinking water has to be carried by hand from the lake, and no one takes a bath."

_"It doesn't smell that bad..."

_"With no toilet paper or fresh clothes, everyone is smelling like sweaty garbage!"

_"The compost pile is far enough away from the town that it shouldn't matter."

_"It's not the compost pile that smells, it's the town that smells; which is why I took matters into my own hands."

_"How so?"

_"I found these really sweet hot springs earlier today; and tomorrow, I'm going to sneak away from work and take a long needed bath."

_"Nobody knows about them?"

_"Not a one."

-O-

_I kinda stalked Cupa to the hot springs. When she claimed she found them yesterday, I didn't believe her. **That's** why I followed her here; **not** because I wanted to see her naked.

_About halfway up the mountain, Cupa stopped and pulled aside some vines and stepped inside a hidden cave. Peeking my head in, I discovered very unnatural hot springs with some rocks missing on the roof, forming a natural skylight.

_Cupa took off her hoodie, and I was amazed she had only underwear underneath it. She took her bra off and threw it on top of her hoodie. She was facing away from me, which made me all the more surprised when she said, "John, is that you?"

_I froze up, I didn't know how to respond._ BUSTED. Or maybe not, Cupa's information on sexuality is limited, maybe if I..._

_"Hey Cupa! What's up?"

_"Why did you follow me?"

_"First, how did you know it was me?"

_"I saw you following me before we entered the forest."

_"Dammit!"

_"Why did you follow me?"

_"I doubted such a place as this existed, and if it did, I wanted to join you."

_"Come on in!"

__Primary Security Perimeters breached; Steve and Beard have no clue. Secondary Security Perimeters breached; Cupa invited me in. If only..._

_We both stripped down and slipped in, It must've been 85 Fahrenheit outside; not a great day to hot tub. (Or in this case, hot spring) But the cave acted like a natural air conditioner, so the water felt great. It was below shoulder level, so I could see Cupa's beautiful breasts.

_"Ah!" Cupa sighed, "I haven't had a bath in almost two weeks! Everyone else should bathe too; the camp stinks unbearably."

_"You've told me this..."

_"Sorry; I want to get my point across. I should just relax while I can."

_"Yeah, I will say that it is relaxing to take a bath; especially with such a pretty girl." Cupa blushed; I was on a role. "So, I have some information you might want."

_"Yeah, such as?"

_"I can teach you what sex is." It was a bold move and I had no clue how she would respond.

_"..."

_"Of course, if you don't want to know, that's fine with-"

_"That's not it, it's just that I've never done anything Teacher has told me not to do. John, I think it's time I made my decisions on my own; please teach me about sex."

_"It's easier if I showed you."

_"Ok."

_"Lesson 1; the difference between guys and girls."

_"Besides facial hair?"

_"Yup. Now you haven't been able to see it because you can't see a whole lot through this steamy water, but my body is different than yours between the legs."

_"How so?"

_"Can I see your hand?" She gave me her hand and I brought it down my stomach to between my legs. Cupa screamed and jumped back when she found what I was telling her about.

_"What the fuck is **that**?"

_"That's my penis thank you very much."

_"All guys have **that**?"

_"Yes! That is the difference between guys and girls, not just facial hair, not just attitude, not just boobs; but the presence of a dick."

_"Woah..."

_"Do you want to touch it again?" She didn't say anything, but she slowly slid closer to me in the water and slowly returned her hand to where it was before.

_"That's soo weird! Oh my God! What are these?" She was curiously feeling around.

_"Testicles, they're very sensitive."_ I'm getting hard..._

_"So that's why you guys fall over when you get hit down there?"

_"Yes it's very painful when they get hit." _Oh my God her small hand feels so good!_

_"Is it getting bigger?"

_"Yes, it's called an erection, which brings me to Lesson 2; sexual pleasure!"

_"So it feels good when I touch it?"

_"Yeah..." I couldn't help sighing.

_"Does it feel this good for me, even though I don't have that?"

_"You want to find out?" I brought my hand to her pleasure center, and played with it the way my girlfriend used to like it. She was soon moaning and that encouraged me further. "Are you okay with this?"

_"Yes! I don't know why teacher kept this a secret from me! This feels amazing!"

__That's because I haven't told you it's how you make kids, and you only do it with your significant other._ "Want me to try something else?"

_"Sure!"

_"It might not be as pleasurable as me fingering you, but I'd like to grope you boobs."

_"Go right ahead! This is fun!"

_I had to have been in the guiltiest position at that moment; both hands on both boobs. My nightmare came to life before my eyes as Beard stepped through the doorway. _FUCK! I've only been here a day and I already blew it! I'm dead! AGAIN!_ "Hey Beard! Nice day for a bath!"

_"JOHN! OUT OF THE WATER!"

_"Yes, sir..." I climbed out and put on my clothes.

_"Beard! Don't be so harsh on him! We were having fun!" Cupa protested

_"Shut up! You don't even know what you were doing!"

_"Yes I do! We were doing sex!"

_"Point proven. John, you better hope Magister's in a good mood today!"

_"Can't Steve decide my fate? I mean, Magister is basically her father; Steve's just another guy."

_"Correction, Steve would kill you. Magister might be her father, but at least he's reasonable and understands hormones."  
_"I'm done for..."

_"You should know better, you're nineteen!"

_"I'm sorry..."

_"NO! You're sorry you got caught!"

_"Beard! That's enough!" Cupa climbed out of the water.

_"Cupa! That's enough out of you! And put some clothes on! We're hiking back to the village!"

_The hike back to the village was a long and silent one. It was the longest I had seen Cupa go without talking; the only sentence Cupa said to me was, "I'm sorry I got you in trouble."


	8. Bows and Bones

Please **review** and tell me if you like/dislike the story and **why**. (It motivates me to write faster)

**Chapter 8 - Bows and Bones**

Random Settlement - Third Person POV

_"What've we got?"

_"Just skeletons, sir."

_"No zombies?"

_"No, sir."

_"Spider Jockeys?"

_"A few, sir, estimates put it at about twenty."

_"Damn! How many skeletons on foot?"

_"A very large amount, sir, estimates put that at over a hundred."

_"Dammit all!"

_"What are your orders?"

_"Get all of the women and children to the chapel and lead them to the basement. They can come out when the sun comes out."

_"Everyone else?"

_"A lot of us are going to die tonight, if we fight defensively, we can reduce that number. Bring all of the men to the well, we prepare for battle in five minutes!"

_"Yes, sir!"

-O-

Beard's Tent - Third Person POV

_"WHAT did you just say?!"

_"Steve! Calm down! It wasn't like-"

_"It wasn't like what? They were both naked together? 'Cause they were!"

_"Cupa can make her own decisions," Beard argued.

_"Maybe after she's not so innocent! Why are you telling me this a WEEK, count 'em; SEVEN days later! I'm going to talk to Magister and fix this problem once and for all!"

_"You're angry at Magister? Not John?"

_"Let me answer that by asking you this: Did Cupa lose her virginity before she even knew what virginity was?"

_"No..."

_"So although I want to murder John, Magister is the root cause of the problem."

_"Steve wait!" Beard tried to stop Steve from diving for the backpack in the corner of the tent, but Steve was too quick.

_"MAGISTER! Get out of Beard's backpack!" Steve shouted.

_"No." A muffled voice came from inside.

_"You fucked it up good this time!"

_"Leave me alone."

_"If you don't give Cupa a lesson, I'm going to make sure that you're scared of me for the rest of your eternal life!"

_"What are you going to do? Hit me with a sword? I'm a friggin magical stone!"

_"I'll do much worse! I'll throw you down the outhouse bowl!"

_"What the hell man! Into the entire towns' shit below?"

_"You'll be forced to absorb it to clean yourself."

_"You wouldn't dare!"

_"Want to bet?"

_Beard suddenly stood up straight, perfectly still and started to sweat on his forehead.

_"Beard?"

_"Huh?"

_"You were looking a little sick there for a moment, are you ok?" Steve asked.

_"Yea.." Beard staggered over to a table to hold himself up.

_"You sure?" Magister said.

_"No. I got this weird tingling feeling; it perks up when something bad's going on."

_"Like letting Cupa and John getting in the same hot spring pool?!"

_"I told you I'm sorry Steve, that'll won't again."

_"It will never happen again if you can help me get Magister to just suck it up and teach her."

_Beard suddenly shot up again.

_"What?"

_"It's a very painful itch! I know when I have it."

_"Bug bites?"

_"This is serious! We have to go. NOW!"

-O-

Town Center (If you can call it that) - Third Person POV

_"Alright everyone! Listen up! Prior to an hour ago, I thought we were the only settlement here in Minecraft. This settlement of twenty individuals is not, I will repeat, not alone." Steve stood on a thick stump, looking much more serious than normal, "I apologize for making this decision, but half of us are going to rescue this village and, using our super diplomat skills, convince them to join forces with us." He cleared his throat and pointed to Ryan before continuing, "The other half, led by Ryan, will watch the village while we're gone. The reason why I am apologizing is because the chances of the village having any survivors when we get there, is probably under 10%, and so this effort may be in vain."

_"How do we even know this village exists?" Ricky asked.

_"That... Is a very good question. Beard! How do we know this village exists?"

_"I grew up there! Well, aged from 25 to 40 there..."

_"There you have it Ricky! Any more questions? Cupa?"

_"Who will be going and who will be staying?"

_"Beard has just finished 'modifying' my list (whatever the hell that means)." Steve murmured this as he unrolled the birch bark where the list was written. "Beard and I will be leading this journey, joining us will be Cupa and Andr (for training), Ricky and Kenko (for support), Brooke (for help with diplomacy), and... uh.. John (for... testosterone). Why is that written here?"

_"The twelve of you staying behind," Beard cut him off, "your only task is maintenance of the settlement. If we don't come back in two weeks, we should be presumed dead and Ryan will be the new leader. 'Lizabeth, take care of the shop for me. Now, will the eight known as the 'Away Team' pack your things ASAP we leave at sunrise!"

-O-

Town - Andr's POV

_I had to see him. One last time. I may never see him again. I mean, I am an enderman, so I can teleport out of the fight, but nevertheless, it's still dangerous.

__Where is he? I checked his tent and both cabins. He can't possibly be doing physical labor._ I ran over to Beards tent next. "Magister! Where's Ryan?"

_"Ugg.. I want to sleeeeeep."

_"Where is he?"

_"West."

_"Thanks! See you on the mission!"

_"Go away..."

__Alright! He must be doing something in the fields._

-O-

__What is he doing?_ I thought. He was hunched over chewing certain parts of a blade of grass and spitting them out before writing something in that notebook of his._ Alright, I found him. Now the next question; should I surprise him, seduce him, enter normally, or surprise then seduce?_ As usual, my adventurous side hardly put up a fight to my timid side and I just entered normally.

_"Hey, Ryan."

_"Oh hi! I'm actually glad you're here, Andr! Does this taste like strawberry to you?"

_He shoved one of the blades of grass in my face. This was not what I was expecting, so my face might've looked repulsed.

_"S-s-sorry, you must think I'm strange..."

__Crap, this is not going well..._ "That's not it! I was just taken off guard!"

_"Why are you even here?"

_"Well, I j-just wanted to see you one last time before we leave."

_"Oh. You wanted... to see me."

_"Yeah. But not just talk to you, I also wanted to..."

_"To do what?"

_"You know... In case I die I want to have a good memory..."

_Ryan shot me a funny look. "You won't die! Come on! You're a blade-wielding enderman!"

_"How can you be so sure?"

_"I don't want to hear my shaky voice ramble on forever, so I'll make it brief; If you don't feel comfortable going, tell Steve and he should fix everything. If you are there, and you have doubts, stay alive for me. I need you Andr! Just visiting me now was enough to make me feel important! In the week or so you've been around; you've helped me with my unusual experiments, talked to me through my stuttering, and looked up to me. I want to thank you, Andr."

_I giggled "Ryan, you make it sound like a big deal!"

_"It is a big deal! B-because Andr," His face got really red, "I love you."

__OH MY GOD HE ACTUALLY SAID IT! Yes! Butterflies in my stomach! Wait! What do I say back? Should I say I love you too? Ugg.. At least he took the initiative and told me, I never would've told him! I wonder if-_

_"Sorry, Andr; but I had to get that out." He picked up his stuff and started walking away.

__SHIT! I didn't say anything and he thinks I hate him! I have to do something!_ I ran over to him and must've tripped on something, because the next thing I knew we were on the ground, and I was on top of him. _DO IT ANDR! YOU LOVE HIM SO JUST DO IT ALREADY!_ I finally summoned all of my courage and gave him a solid kiss. "I love you too!" I finally replied.

-O-

Town Gates (Two posts in the ground) - Third Person POV

_"Swords?"

_"Check!"

_"Daggers?"

_"Check!"

_"Torches?"

_"Check!"

_"Canteens?"

_"Check!"

_"Filled with boiled water?"

_"Check!"

_"Food for a 15 hour hike?"

_"Check!"

_"Map?"

_"God Dammit Steve!" Beard shouted, "One; we don't need a map! I know the way there fairly well. Two; its under 40 miles! In other words, if we hiked at a brisk pace we could be there in ten hours! Three; by the time you've finished the checklist, we will have wasted an hour already! Let's get going already!"

_"Okay, Away Team, Onward!"

-O-

One Hour In; Forest - Third Person POV

_Steve broke the silence, "Well played, Beard!"

_"Huh?"

_"You responded to my rambling by getting your point across in a way that was sure to get this Team moving. To top it all off you pronounced all of your r's and ing's! What sort of dynamic change is going on with you?"

_"I uh.. have been working on that, actually."

_"Now if you just stopped swearing, I wouldn't even be able to tell it's you..."

_"Just shut the hell up Steve!"

Two Hours In; Waterfall - John's POV

_We put our backpacks down by the river to take a quick rest. I found Steve splashing his face with the cold water on the shore.

_"Hey, Steve," I weakly greeted, Dammit! I didn't think this through: what was I supposed to say? "Quite the hike, huh?"

_He didn't even look up at me, just ignored me and pretended I didn't even exist.

_"So, Steve; Beard has, by this time, told you what happened with me and Cupa, so I'm going to make a wild guess that you're angry with me."

_"So, John; rather than giving me a sarcastic comment could you just man up and apologize?"

_Apoligize? To Steve? "Steve, listen; from the bottom of my heart, I am as sorry as someone can be after seeing Cupa naked. I mean, come on, her little breasts are beautiful!"

_He quickly got up and shoved me into the river, "Alright," Steve said, "Let's keep moving"

_Why do I always revert to my sarcastic self when I can't think of anything good to say? I'm so stupid!

Four Hours In; Jungle - Third Person POV

_"Hey! Guess where we are!" Steve suddenly exclaimed.

_"Ugg were? In the middle of nowhere?" Kenko trudged along.

_"Cupa, guess!"

_"I don't know, Steve!"

_"This is where we met Beard!"

_"No it isn't..."

_"Ok, you're right! All the way up that cliff there, and then a half-mile inward is where we met Beard!"

_"Steve, why are you in such a positive mood! We're not even a third of the way there!" Kenko complained.

_"Dude, why are you in such a negative mood! It's around 75 Fahrenheit out with little humidity! No clouds, it's a beautiful day for a hike!"

_"Talk to me in seven or eight hours, then you'll be complaining!"

_"But if you're complaining now, how will you make it back alive?"

_"Huh?"

_"Once we get there, we're going to have to get back if there are large numbers of monsters there."

_"WHAT? NO RESPITE!"

_"Two hour break, maybe longer."

_"WHY AM I HERE?"

_"Because you are the second most physically fit next to John."

_"It's all in the arms man! I can't do this!"

_"Too late! keep marching!"

Seven Hours In; Lake - Third Person POV

_"What a lake!" Cupa suddenly exclaimed.

_"Where? I've been looking for it!" Beard said.

_"Through these trees!"

_The group followed her, and sure enough a crystal, freshwater late awaited them. Everyone put their backpacks down and jumped in, not caring to take any clothes off.

_"Not, joining them Andr?" Beard asked.

_"No. You neither?"

_"No I don't want to be squishy the rest of the hike. Ahhh!" Beard stretched and threw his backpack on the ground.

_"OWW! Duuuude, that wasn't very nice!" the unexpected third voice said.

_"Magister?" Andr asked, "Is that you?"

_"No, duh."

_"BEARD! Steve's going to kill you!"

_"Not if you don't tell him!"

_"I have to, there should be no secrets between you!"

_"Don't do it!" Beard said.

_"I dare you to do it!" Magister said.

_"Steve!" Andr called

_"YEAH?"

_"I need you over here!"

_"Shit!" Beard swore.

_"What's up?" Steve asked, Andr pointed to Beard's backpack.

_"NO!" Steve was shock.

_"Steve, I'm sorry! Think about it; we'll be killing a lot of monsters, increasing the chance of one of them being compatible, increasing our population. You know, Safety in Numbers?"

_"I have no doubt in my mind that you just recited Magister's reasoning, therefore, he must've put you up to this, therefore I'm not going to care about it until we get back. Magister, I will be talking to you later."

Eight Hours In; Jungle Mountains - Third Person POV

_"Magister, I have a question." Steve said when Ricky, Kenko, and Brooke were all busy talking.

_"Ask away."

_"I thought you said we were the first group of people to survive; but Beard came from a town with as many, probably more, people than our town. Did you lie?"

_"No. Your group is the first to live through this."

_"But then what are they? NPC's?"

_"No. They are from earth, like yourself."

_"But saying we are the first group to survive Minecraft contradicts the fact that another village has been here longer than ours."

_"I said your group was the first to live through Minecraft. Steve, I would think you of all people would know the difference between surviving and living."

_Steve thought about this and Beard, who had heard the whole thing because he was carrying Magister, chuckled at Magisters side of the argument.

Nine Hours In; Forest - Third Person POV

_After nine hours, Steve wanted to hang out in the back rather than leading in the front. "Hey! Cupa and Andr! How's it going all the way in the back?"

_Cupa quickened her pace until she had caught up with Ricky.

_"Sooo, I guess it's just Andr and me in the back then!"

_"Hi, Steve," Andr quietly said.

_"I think that I owe you a quick apology before I attempt to start a conversation."

_"Oh?"

_"Yeah, I split you and Ryan up! I made him stay and you come along. So knowing how crazy you two are for each other, I-"

_"It's not like that!"

_"As Beard might say, 'My point has just been proven'"

_"I.. I want to be crazy for him, but, I don't want to hurt him."

_"Huh?"

_"Steve, how often do I take the night shifts?"

_"Uh... every other night."

_"Why?"

_"Because you're a great fighter and volunteer for it."

_"Why do I volunteer?"

_"Because you're awesome? I don't see how this has to do with anything."

_"Steve, I have a darker side to me just like you do; I don't know if it's the fact that I'm an enderman, or because of the speed that Magister taught me. But I love to kill the monsters."

_"Everyone loves to kill the monsters!"

_"Not to my extent, I'm sure. I just love to spear a blade through their back, causing it to rip out the other side. I like to watch the life drain from their eyes and the blood drip from their wounds. I have a problem."

_"And you don't want Ryan to know?"

_"Exactly!"

_"That makes sense; but I still think that you shouldn't keep away from him. If he really does like you, I think he'd be able to get past it if you were to tell him."

_"But that doesn't change the fact that it happens, that I get this feeling. Is your dark side so easy to just brush off? Your default, survival instinct is to run away from everything and everyone. Amplify that by about a hundred, and you get what I feel."

_"Cupa told you?"

_"About your darker side? Yea. Contrary to your belief, Steve, she cares a lot about you. Just like I care a lot about Ryan."

_"Really? She's too busy clinging to John for me to notice..."

_"Steve! Cut her some slack! Her knowledge of humans is significantly lower than mine and everyone else's because Magister babies her. She has mixed feelings for you because she finally has a clue what gender is, and she's onto John because she has no clue what hormones are."

_"Alright, I get it; she's confused! I'll back off!"

_"Thank you."

_"Once again, I'm sorry for splitting you and Ryan up."

_"You don't have to apologize, it wasn't all that bad..."

_"Oh?"

Thirteen Hours; Beard's Village - Steve's POV

_"Holy siht!" Beard said, "Nothing's left."  
_"Reduced to rubble." Cupa stated, "We're up against something big."

_"Skeletons." A gigantic man; probably the height of Ryan and 300 pounds in muscle stepped out. "With flaming arrows."

_"Chief!" Beard greeted, "How's it going?" Standing next to Chief, I observed Beard didn't look so big anymore.

_"How does it look like I'm going? Smoothly? Why are you even here?"

_"To provide assistance here or help your town evacuate to ours. Yar choice; but make it fast, we only have an hour until sunset."

_"You have a town?"

_"Yep it's ours!" Beard put his arm on my shoulder like a brother, "We set up shop near a spawn point. Lucky for us, it was active and we got a lot of people flooding in."

_"Your spawn is ACTIVE?"

_"Was. Past tense."

_"Shame my scientists couldn't study it..."

_"We have two of our own, and I'm sure that the friendlier one we left behind would love to share his data with your scientists."

_"What's this Beard? Pronouncing r's and not swearing? I don't know you!"

_Beard rolled his eyes and was about to say something when I leaned in. "Is it okay if we rest here until about a half hour before sunset?"

_"Of course, but we'll have to be gone from here by the time the skeletons come back.

_"Okay, everyone! If you want to take a one hour nap before the hike back, you're more then welcome to now!" Ricky and Kenko immediately flopped to the ground when I announced this.

-O-

_One hour later, one hour before sundown, we were ready to move. If everyone survived the journey back, their settlement of twenty-three would be combined with our twenty making the grand total forty-three. There's only eighteen cots in the cabins, so we had a problem; but that's not of concern right now. The problem now was getting all of these people 35 miles back home without attracting massive amounts of monsters.

_We held a brief meeting and came up with a solution; everyone holds a weapon, non-combatants are placed toward the middle of the group, and Andr leads us from the trees to be sure we avoid monsters.

_"John, you and I will be taking the vanguard. Cupa and Beard will be protecting the rest of the people directly. Any further questions? No? Then meeting dismissed, we depart in five minutes!

-O-

_"Why aren't we moving?" Beard said.

_"One of the kids is really sick..." Cheif explained

_"It's my turn to say, is the Cheif I know? Just throw the kid over your shoulder, we have to leave; the sun is starting to slip below the horizon!"

_"Just a sec!"

_"Who said that?"

_"Come on guys! We gotta leave!" Cupa shouted. Chief double counted that everyone had made it and we started jogging into the woods and toward home. "Here they come!"

_A hail of arrows landed next to them and would've hit the group dead on if the wind hadn't interfered. Andr shrieked and teleported up into the trees where she should've been.

_"Steve! There's two or three or Spider Jockeys following us, you're faster, so take them out!" I nodded and ran in that direction. I saw two of them through the trees, but the third one had disappeared. Both skeletons knocked their arrows as I ran toward them. Focus; where are they aiming. They released and I slid under both arrows. Focus; get ready to spring up. The slide lost momentum and I sprang up, drawing my sword. Both skeletons knocked out, and the spiders too stunned to do anything. I quickly killed them and turned around, satisfied with my work.

__Slurp!_ The third spider came out of nowhere and died inches from my face. I looked to my savior; none other than John.

_"Go away John!"

_"I just saved your face!"

_"I don't like you very much..."

_"THANKS! Since you've made it very clear that you're not with Cupa; why else could you hate me? Is it because I'm black?"

_"No John, I'm not racist! I don't hate black people! I just hate you!"

_"Alright! I get it! I did stuff to Cupa! Guess what? I'M SORRY! I don't want to be your enemy! Everyone was my enemy back on earth, and I don't want a repeat! So I'm taking the first step and apologizing! Do you forgive me?"

_"..." I thought about it. He seemed sincere, and this was the apology I was waiting for. Plus, if I don't forgive him, he'll probably continue with this 'racist' thing and that can't possibly help me keep friends. "Yea, I guess I forgive you," I made sure to sound half-hearted.

_"Thank you, now let's catch up to the group!"

_"This doesn't mean we're friends!"

_"Far from it!" He said.

-O-

_The hike home was very long and tiring with only a few torches dipped in kerosene to light the way. Luckily Brooke had some sort of naturally caffeinated fruit, so that held us off for a little while. After a while, the skeletons stopped chasing us and we breathed a little easier, but we still had over eight hours ahead of us. To top it all off, I had to separate from the group because two of the skeletons were 'compatible' to Magister or something. There was a catch though; Magister didn't have the energy to 'awaken' them here, so I had to carry both of them back to the camp.

_It was very relieving when we arrived; the villagers from the other town cheered, Ricky and Kenko collapsed from carrying a lot of our stuff, and Andr and Ryan were re-united.

_It was worth the time, it was worth the effort, it was worth the risk. In the end, we did it, and more importantly; no one died. Sunrise; we could finally rest. For now.


	9. Chapter 9

Apologies; story is on hold until further notice due to (annoying) family problems. I promise when it is back up, there will be a new chapter every week.


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